Post by Lamont CranstonPost by geniePost by Sid9Post by Eddie HaskellPost by Sid9Post by 527_blue_collar_workerThis doesn't make Obama sound very American, now does it?
And what about that phrase, "You shall be your brother's
keeper."
The Italian edition of Vanity Fair said that it had found
George Hussein Onyango Obama living in a hut in a ramshackle
town of Huruma on the outskirts of Nairobi.
Mr Obama, 26, the youngest of the presidential candidate's
half- brothers, spoke for the first time about his life,
which could not be more different than that of the
Democratic contender
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama...
Straight from Limbo's show today!
A true dittohead!
No, it is not from Rush. It is my original thoughts, and
apparently that kind of thinking is catching on.
Wonder how he knew that was on Rush's show?
Must be a ditto head..
Oh, the irony..
Oh, the projection..
-Eddie Haskell
I listen whenever I can.
It's important to know
and understand the
opposition.
527's post came straight
from Limbo today.
Today!- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
That is a lie. Not only a lie, but a damned lie. I have not listened
to Rush L. in months. That is the Obama routine, to call people that
beat them, liars.- Hide quoted text -
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Yep. But they can't help it, look at their leaders.
projects.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/?gclid=CPDukrSXn5UCFQS7sgodZzjPjw
False Pretenses - 935 Lies About Iraq
Go fuck yourself, Crankston. Being wrong about WMDs is not the same as
lying, you shameless lying cocksucker.
But please do tell us how many supposed lies democrats told us about WMDs,
you useless goddamn lying piece of fucking SHIT.
"The 1991 Persian Gulf War and subsequent U.N. inspections destroyed Iraq's
illicit weapons capability and, for the most part, Saddam Hussein did not
try to rebuild it, according to an extensive report by the chief U.S.
weapons inspector in Iraq that contradicts nearly every prewar assertion
made by top administration officials about Iraq."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12115-2004Oct6.html
"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat
Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use
them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and
all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow."
-Bill Clinton - 1998
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that
Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons
stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also
given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members,
though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible
events of September 11, 2001."
-Hillary Clinton - 2002
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12115-2004Oct6.html
The Guardian - February 6, 1999
"Saddam Hussein's regime has opened talks with Osama bin Laden, bringing
closer the threat of a terrorist attack using chemical, biological or
nuclear weapons, according to US intelligence sources and Iraqi opposition
officials."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,314700,00.html
"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to
develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That
is our bottom line."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We
want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction program."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal
here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear,
chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest
security threat we face."
--Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998
"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times
since 1983."
--Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998
"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S.
Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate,
air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to
the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction
programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by:
-- Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, Oct.
9, 1998
"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass
destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he
has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
-Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass
destruction and palaces for his cronies."
-- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999
"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons
programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs
continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam
continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a
licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten
the United States and our allies."
Letter to President Bush, Signed by:
-- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), and others, Dec 5, 2001
"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a
threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate
of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and th! e
means of delivering them."
-- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002
"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical
weapons throughout his country."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to
deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in
power."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing
weapons of mass destruction."
-- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002
"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are
confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and
biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to
build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence
reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
-- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002
"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority
to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe
that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real
and grave threat to our security."
-- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002
"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively
to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the
next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated
the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
-- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002
"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every
significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his
chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has
refused to do"
-- Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that
Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons
stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also
given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members
... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will
continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare,
and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
-- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam
Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for
the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."
-- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002
"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal,
murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a
particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to
miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his
continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction
... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is
real..."
-- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003
-Eddie Haskell
Post by Lamont CranstonFollowing 9/11, President Bush and seven top officials of his
administration waged a carefully orchestrated campaign of misinformation
about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
By Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith
January 23, 2008
President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials,
including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935
false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the
national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly five years
after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record
shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that
effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation
to war under decidedly false pretenses.
On at least 532 separate occasions (in speeches, briefings, interviews,
testimony, and the like), Bush and these three key officials, along with
Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz,
and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan,
stated unequivocally that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (or was
trying to produce or obtain them), links to Al Qaeda, or both. This
concerted effort was the underpinning of the Bush administration's case
for war.
It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass
destruction or have meaningful ties to Al Qaeda. This was the conclusion
of numerous bipartisan government investigations, including those by the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (2004 and 2006), the 9/11
Commission, and the multinational Iraq Survey Group, whose "Duelfer
Report" established that Saddam Hussein had terminated Iraq's nuclear
program in 1991 and made little effort to restart it.
In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of
erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated
in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003. Not surprisingly, the
officials with the most opportunities to make speeches, grant media
interviews, and otherwise frame the public debate also made the most false
statements, according to this first-ever analysis of the entire body of
prewar rhetoric.
President Bush, for example, made 232 false statements about weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq and another 28 false statements about Iraq's
links to Al Qaeda. Secretary of State Powell had the second-highest total
in the two-year period, with 244 false statements about weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq's links to Al Qaeda. Rumsfeld and
Fleischer each made 109 false statements, followed by Wolfowitz (with 85),
Rice (with 56), Cheney (with 48), and McClellan (with 14).
The massive database at the heart of this project juxtaposes what
President Bush and these seven top officials were saying for public
consumption against what was known, or should have been known, on a
day-to-day basis. This fully searchable database includes the public
statements, drawn from both primary sources (such as official transcripts)
and secondary sources (chiefly major news organizations) over the two
years beginning on September 11, 2001. It also interlaces relevant
information from more than 25 government reports, books, articles,
speeches, and interviews.
Consider, for example, these false public statements made in the run-up to
a.. On August 26, 2002, in an address to the national convention of the
Veteran of Foreign Wars, Cheney flatly declared: "Simply stated, there is
no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is
no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our
allies, and against us." In fact, former CIA Director George Tenet later
recalled, Cheney's assertions went well beyond his agency's assessments at
the time. Another CIA official, referring to the same speech, told
journalist Ron Suskind, "Our reaction was, 'Where is he getting this stuff
from?' "
b.. In the closing days of September 2002, with a congressional vote fast
approaching on authorizing the use of military force in Iraq, Bush told
the nation in his weekly radio address: "The Iraqi regime possesses
biological and chemical weapons, is rebuilding the facilities to make more
and, according to the British government, could launch a biological or
chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes after the order is given. . . .
This regime is seeking a nuclear bomb, and with fissile material could
build one within a year." A few days later, similar findings were also
included in a much-hurried National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction an analysis that hadn't been done in years,
as the intelligence community had deemed it unnecessary and the White
House hadn't requested it.
c.. In July 2002, Rumsfeld had a one-word answer for reporters who asked
whether Iraq had relationships with Al Qaeda terrorists: "Sure." In fact,
an assessment issued that same month by the Defense Intelligence Agency
(and confirmed weeks later by CIA Director Tenet) found an absence of
"compelling evidence demonstrating direct cooperation between the
government of Iraq and Al Qaeda." What's more, an earlier DIA assessment
said that "the nature of the regime's relationship with Al Qaeda is
unclear."
d.. On May 29, 2003, in an interview with Polish TV, President Bush
declared: "We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological
laboratories." But as journalist Bob Woodward reported in State of Denial,
days earlier a team of civilian experts dispatched to examine the two
mobile labs found in Iraq had concluded in a field report that the labs
were not for biological weapons. The team's final report, completed the
following month, concluded that the labs had probably been used to
manufacture hydrogen for weather balloons.
e.. On January 28, 2003, in his annual State of the Union address, Bush
asserted: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently
sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence
sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum
tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production." Two weeks earlier, an
analyst with the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research
sent an email to colleagues in the intelligence community laying out why
he believed the uranium-purchase agreement "probably is a hoax."
f.. On February 5, 2003, in an address to the United Nations Security
Council, Powell said: "What we're giving you are facts and conclusions
based on solid intelligence. I will cite some examples, and these are from
human sources." As it turned out, however, two of the main human sources
to which Powell referred had provided false information. One was an Iraqi
con artist, code-named "Curveball," whom American intelligence officials
were dubious about and in fact had never even spoken to. The other was an
Al Qaeda detainee, Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, who had reportedly been sent to
Eqypt by the CIA and tortured and who later recanted the information he
had provided. Libi told the CIA in January 2004 that he had "decided he
would fabricate any information interrogators wanted in order to gain
better treatment and avoid being handed over to [a foreign government]."
The false statements dramatically increased in August 2002, with
congressional consideration of a war resolution, then escalated through
the mid-term elections and spiked even higher from January 2003 to the eve
of the invasion.
It was during those critical weeks in early 2003 that the president
delivered his State of the Union address and Powell delivered his
memorable U.N. presentation. For all 935 false statements, including when
and where they occurred, go to the search page for this project; the
methodology used for this analysis is explained here.
In addition to their patently false pronouncements, Bush and these seven
top officials also made hundreds of other statements in the two years
after 9/11 in which they implied that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction
or links to Al Qaeda. Other administration higher-ups, joined by Pentagon
officials and Republican leaders in Congress, also routinely sounded false
war alarms in the Washington echo chamber.
The cumulative effect of these false statements amplified by thousands
of news stories and broadcasts was massive, with the media coverage
creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the
run-up to war. Some journalists indeed, even some entire news
organizations have since acknowledged that their coverage during those
prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical. These mea culpas
notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided
additional, "independent" validation of the Bush administration's false
statements about Iraq.
The "ground truth" of the Iraq war itself eventually forced the president
to backpedal, albeit grudgingly. In a 2004 appearance on NBC's Meet the
Press, for example, Bush acknowledged that no weapons of mass destruction
had been found in Iraq. And on December 18, 2005, with his approval
ratings on the decline, Bush told the nation in a Sunday-night address
from the Oval Office: "It is true that Saddam Hussein had a history of
pursuing and using weapons of mass destruction. It is true that he
systematically concealed those programs, and blocked the work of U.N.
weapons inspectors. It is true that many nations believed that Saddam had
weapons of mass destruction. But much of the intelligence turned out to be
wrong. As your president, I am responsible for the decision to go into
Iraq. Yet it was right to remove Saddam Hussein from power."
Bush stopped short, however, of admitting error or poor judgment; instead,
his administration repeatedly attributed the stark disparity between its
prewar public statements and the actual "ground truth" regarding the
threat posed by Iraq to poor intelligence from a Who's Who of domestic
agencies.
On the other hand, a growing number of critics, including a parade of
former government officials, have publicly and in some cases
vociferously accused the president and his inner circle of ignoring or
distorting the available intelligence. In the end, these critics say, it
was the calculated drumbeat of false information and public pronouncements
that ultimately misled the American people and this nation's allies on
their way to war.
Bush and the top officials of his administration have so far largely
avoided the harsh, sustained glare of formal scrutiny about their personal
responsibility for the litany of repeated, false statements in the run-up
to the war in Iraq. There has been no congressional investigation, for
example, into what exactly was going on inside the Bush White House in
that period. Congressional oversight has focused almost entirely on the
quality of the U.S. government's pre-war intelligence not the judgment,
public statements, or public accountability of its highest officials. And,
of course, only four of the officials Powell, Rice, Rumsfeld, and
Wolfowitz have testified before Congress about Iraq.
Short of such review, this project provides a heretofore unavailable
framework for examining how the U.S. war in Iraq came to pass. Clearly, it
calls into question the repeated assertions of Bush administration
officials that they were the unwitting victims of bad intelligence.
Above all, the 935 false statements painstakingly presented here finally
help to answer two all-too-familiar questions as they apply to Bush and
his top advisers: What did they know, and when did they know it?